1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a keyboard device and particularly relates to a keyboard device capable of suppressing noise that occurs upon release of a key.
2. Description of Related Art
Traditionally, in an electronic keyboard instrument, such as an electronic piano, hammers with a specific mass are rotatably pivoted under the keys. The hammer is rotated when the key is pressed or released, so as to give the key a specific action load and reproduce the touching sense of the keys of an acoustic piano.
For instance, a keyboard device is disclosed in Patent Literature 1, which includes: keys rotatably pivoted on a chassis, a protrusion protruding from each key, a sliding surface on which the protrusion slides when a key is pressed or released, and a hammer having one end formed with the sliding surface and the other end provided with a mass body, and a portion of the hammer between said one end and the other end is rotatably pivoted to the chassis. The hammer is rotated along with the pressing or releasing of the key, so as to apply an action load to the key.
In the keyboard device, the sliding surface has an incline surface and a bump portion. When the protrusion slides on the sliding surface along with the pressing of the key, the resistance during the pressing of the key is varied to reproduce the touching sense of the keys of an acoustic piano.
Here, the keyboard device includes a switch to be pressed by the key when the key is pressed, so as to obtain a key pressing information according to the pressing state of the switch. The hammer rotated along with the pressing of the key is rotated in the reverse direction by its deadweight (gravity acting on the mass body) and returns to the initial position. When the hammer returns to the initial position, the pressed key is lifted back to the initial position by the hammer.